The invention concerns a sorting apparatus for granular products, such as peas, nuts, raisins and suchlike, with a detection system, a removal system and a transport device, where said transport device is characterised by a sloping distribution surface over which said products are moved.
In existing sorting apparatuses, serious problems can arise with separating off low-quality products and foreign bodies from the continuous stream of products, mainly due to the irregularity of said stream of products.
This results in significant quantities of foreign bodies or low-quality products not being removed from the stream of products.
Canadian patent 1 158 748 describes a sorting apparatus for radioactive ores, in which said ores are moved over a curved plate. Said plate is equipped with channels through which the ores are guided towards a detection system. Said channels ensure that the ores do not move across the width of the plate, so preventing them falling outside the range of the detector. The use of such channels has the disadvantageous consequence that only a limited capacity or flow rate of products to be sorted can be handled. Also, the construction of a plate with several channels extending alongside each other is complex and expensive, due to the plate being curved. Furthermore, the shape of said curved plate is such that, in order to permit detection, it is also necessary to carry out a speed measurement or separate determination of the position of the products to be sorted, with the help of extra sensors, which increases the complexity of the apparatus and the risk of inaccuracies in its operation.